By Pastor Aubrey Duncan

The Cloak of Climate Change

Maui’s fires and deaths, fueled by a destructive hurricane called Dora, have created a deadly tinderbox that has decimated the island in the South Pacific. It is rated by the experts as the worst the island has ever experienced. The Governor of the territory, Jeff Green, remarked about the disaster: “What we saw was likely the largest natural disaster in Hawaii’s state history”. Both President Joe Biden and Pope Francis have declared the current weather conditions a climate emergency.

“Jennifer Marlon, a research scientist and lecturer at the Yale School of the Environment, remarked to the news outlet CNN: “It’s very strange to hear about severe wildfires in Hawaii—a wet, tropical island—but strange events are becoming more common with climate change”. She continued, “But this is what climate change is doing—it’s super-charging extreme weather. This is yet another example of what human-caused climate change increasingly looks like”.

The climate crisis, including Maui’s catastrophe, elicits calls for Sunday sacredness. These calls are intensifying at an alarming rate. Increasingly, Sunday sacredness is being promoted as the panacea for the ever-developing climate crisis. Making Sunday special, its proponents claim, would not only heal the planet but would also help in alleviating the exploitation of the poor and oppressed.

Private enterprises, NGOs, and governments of all levels—from the United Nations to local municipalities around the world seem to be coalescing in a perfectly choreographed symphony orchestra. That orchestra is belting out a meticulously synchronized arrangement called ‘Sunday sacredness, the cure for the climate crisis’. Here are a few stanzas of that composition.

• 25 Years Later, St. John Paul II’s Effort to Keep Sundays Holy Is Even More Timely. (National Catholic Register, May 30, 2023).
• I went back to church on Sunday. Here’s why we should all consider getting back to religion. (Jim Nelles, Fox News, April 23).
• Taking Back Your Sabbath (Sunday). (Janise Holmes, Billy Graham Evangelistic Crusade, May 16, 2023).
• Why is the Lord’s Day celebrated on Sunday instead of Saturday? (John Flader, The Catholic Weekly, April 15, 2016).
• Closed on Sunday. (Harry Scherer, The American Conservative, Apr 17, 2023).
• Senator: Church attendance should be mandatory. (CNN Mar 27, 2015).
• Sunday is “time for prayer and family” not shopping, Polish government reminds retailers. (Notes From Poland, August 25, 2022).
• A New Sabbath. (Brian Pizzalato, Catholic News Agency, July 22, 2023).
• Voluntarily follow Blue Laws to receive benefit they offer. (Dave Hogsett, KPC NEWS, Jan 28, 2023).
• Heal Israel’s divisions by giving Sunday off for everyone – opinion. (Warren Goldstein, Jerusalem Post, December 11, 2022).
• Pakistan Punjab govt to impose lockdown on Sundays to conserve energy. (Pakistan National Herald, 22 June 2022).

The issue of climate change has risen to an unprecedented level of national and international consciousness. The symphonic chorus of Sunday sacredness to mitigate it is rising to a feverish pitch. One is forced to ask, ‘Is this simply accidental, or is it being craftily planned and orchestrated as part of, perhaps central to, a broader hidden agenda?’

A Little Bit of History

Donald J. Boudreaux, a professor of philosophy, politics, and economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, remarked: “Any clear-eyed examination of daily capitalist reality reveals that the environment within which each of us lives today is far more sanitary, safe, and pleasant—far less polluted—than was the daily environment of our pre-industrial ancestors. This fact doesn’t mean that climate change and other alleged environmental problems aren’t real or worth trying to mitigate”.

Under close examination, one can safely assume that the climate change issue is being used to promote and accelerate a very focused and most sinister agenda. But what agenda, and by whom? The answer to that rather poignant question may not be readily available to the masses, who are being unwittingly manipulated to bring about a universal state of affairs that very few are aware of. Nevertheless, there is an answer.

The year was 2015. On September 24th of that year, Pope Francis released his long-awaited, controversial, and much-debated encyclical on the environment, Laudato SI’. The central issues he addressed were the threat of global warming to the environment and its impact on the poor, families, and the world’s economy. Underlying his thesis is humanity’s need to protect and take care of creation. Before its ‘official’ release, the world was presented with a ‘leaked’ version that accelerated discussions on the issue. Religionists, politicians, and scientists were offering their take on the impact of Francis’ encyclical on the climate change debate.

Jeb Bush, a Roman Catholic and then-recently declared Republican candidate for the presidency, disagreed with his pope’s position on climate change. He said: “I hope I’m not going to get castigated for saying this by my priest back home … religion ought to be about making us better as people and less about things that end up getting into the political realm. Those words are eerily reminiscent of the late John F. Kennedy’s declaration to a gathering of Protestant ministers in Houston, Texas in September, 1960. He sought to convince the electorate that as a Roman Catholic, he will not run the country according to the teachings of his church; but rather on the basis of the country’s constitution.

Another declared Republican candidate at that time, Rick Santorum, himself a Roman Catholic, sounded similar sentiments. He pleaded with his pontiff: “Leave science to the scientists”. Perhaps Bush, Santorum, our leaders today, and the rest of the world need to be reminded that Francis, the head of the Papacy, is not merely a religious leader; but also a political head of state ruling over a nation of more than one billion citizens in every crevice on planet earth. The American ideal of separation of church and state has zero value in that realm. This is the perspective from which Francis operates. Wake up America.

On the other side of the political divide, the then Roman Catholic Vice President and now president, Joseph Biden, certainly agreed with his pope on climate change. Invoking Francis’ encyclical at a clean air conference at the White House, Biden stated: “Usually encyclicals are only issued on what the church thinks are incredibly important initiatives … this doesn’t only have a moral component to it, it has a security component to it, as well as it has an economic component to it”. Biden’s view underscores the broad implications of Francis’ letter. It, in essence, is about more than protecting the environment and caring for the poor and disenfranchised; but rather yet another of Francis’ tactics in his church’s long standing strategy to change the political climate of the world and rule over it as it believes that it is entitled to.

In his book, Keys of this Blood, Malachi Martin, the late Jesuit scholar and expert commentator on the operations and aims of the Papacy, revealed that there was a three-way struggle for world domination. He identified the players in that competition as communism, globalism (capitalism), and Catholicism. Since the publication of his book in 1990, one of those competitors has been effectively neutralized.  Time Magazine’s cover headline glared: “HOLY ALLIANCE … how Reagan and the pope conspired to assist Poland’s solidarity movement and hasten the demise of Communism”(Time, February 24, 1992).

The ensuing article stated: “On June 7, 1982, Reagan and John Paul II met for fifty minutes at the Vatican. During that conversation, the plot was hatched to eliminate communism. In that meeting, Reagan and the Pope agreed to undertake a clandestine campaign to hasten the dissolution of the communist regime, declares Richard Allen, Reagan’s first National Security adviser, ‘This was one of the great secret alliances of all time” (Time Magazine, February 24, 1992, page 28).

Based upon his insightful analysis, Malachi Martin concluded: “That being the case, it would appear inescapable that their competition will end up in confrontation. It is not too much to say, in fact, that the chosen purpose of John Paul’s Pontificate, the engine that drives his papal grand policy and that determines his day-to-day, year-to-year strategies, is to be the victor in that competition, well underway.” (Keys of this Blood, page 15).

John Paul II has now passed off the scene, but the papacy’s objective, as evidenced by Francis’ political and religious maneuverings, remains the same. The sad commentary is that while this phenomenon is well understood by the agents of Rome, it is totally oblivious to most Americans, a majority of our leaders included. Francis continues to relentlessly wage the battle for Papal dominance, attacking the unsuspecting competition from within.

His encyclical on climate change is simply one giant step in that direction. His spectacular address to the joint session of Congress on September 24, 2015, further decrying the evils of capitalism, was yet another.

As Catholicism, with Francis at the helm, is being strengthened and widely perceived as good for humanity’s well being; America, the engine that drives globalism, is becoming weaker and weaker through the attacks on the foundational principles of her constitution, primarily the concept of separation of church and state. What we are experiencing in America today is a rather rapid, though stealthy, implementation of Papal rule built upon its foundational tenet of unification of church and state. Popery is antagonistic to the American system of justice and liberty for all. The Constitution of the United States guarantees liberty of conscience. Nothing is dearer or more fundamental. Pope Pius IX, in his Encyclical Letter of August 15, 1854, made a frontal attack on that most precious American ideal: “The absurd and erroneous doctrines or ravings in defense of liberty of conscience are a most pestilential error—a pest, of all others, most to be dreaded in a state”. Nothing has changed.

The resurgence, growth, and eventual domination of America by the papacy were accelerated with the election of Pope Pius XI in 1922. In the classic Rome Stoops to Conquer, by a renowned Jesuit scholar, we discover the following: “Pius is well aware that the Catholic Church can never hope again to dominate the civilized world until America kneels, beaten and penitent at her feet … In teaching American Catholics this new phase of Catholicism, this active phase, and  in sanctifying it with his blessings, Pius XI rendered inevitable many significant changes in the life course of this nation” (Rome Stoops to Conquer, E. Boyd Barrett, page 4).

The new phase here referred to is an aggressive, well-defined, and organized plan to control all aspects of American life. Perusing the American landscape today, no one can doubt that Pius’ vision and initiatives to make America Catholic have been resoundingly successful. Catholicism, through her dedicated sons and daughters, is in control of the media, business, government, the judiciary, politics, and religion. So successful is Rome’s plan for America that every president, at least since Ronald Reagan, has sought the advice and support of the Roman Papacy in formalizing and executing both their domestic and foreign policies.

Pius’ aim for America was, and still is, the centerpiece of the Vatican’s strategy for world domination. Professor E. Boyd Bartlett continued, “He [Pius XI] would have us; he needs us; he means to have us. He believes that the destiny of the church will be fulfilled in America and that with the spiritual conquest of America, the world dominion of the church will be regained” (ibid., 259).

And what is the main objective and ultimate objective of Rome’s coveted domination of world religion and politics? Let her answer for herself: “When, through the centuries, she has made laws concerning Sunday rest, the Church has had in mind above all the work of servants and workers, certainly not because this work was any less worthy when compared to the spiritual requirements of Sunday observance, but rather because it needed greater regulation to lighten its burden and thus enable everyone to keep the Lord’s Day holy. In this matter, my predecessor Pope Leo XIII in his Encyclical Rerum Novarum spoke of Sunday rest as a worker’s right which the State must guarantee” (Pope John Paul 11, Dies Domini, Section 66).

The Roman Catholic Catechism amplifies the answer: “In respecting religious liberty and the common good of all, Christians should seek recognition of Sundays and the Church’s holy days as legal holidays. They have to give everyone a public example of prayer, respect, and joy and defend their traditions as a precious contribution to the spiritual life of society. If a country’s legislation or other reasons require work on Sunday, the day should nevertheless be lived as the day of our deliverance which lets us share in this “festal gathering,” this “assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven.” (R.C. Catechism, Section 2188).

Naturally, Francis continually insists that the panacea for the world’s problems rests with his church’s version of economics, morality, spirituality and social structure, at the very foundation of which is Sunday sacredness.

His predecessor, Benedict XI, asserted, “At a time when creation seems to be endangered in so many ways through human activity, we should consciously accept this dimension of Sunday, too … It is necessary to promote reflection and efforts at reconciling the demands and the periods of work with those of the family and to recover the true meaning of the feast, especially on Sunday, the weekly Easter, the day of the lord, and the day of man, the day of the family, of the community, and of solidarity” (Zenith.org, Sept. 26 2010). A leading church publication of its time stated, “Sunday is our mark of authority … the church is above the Bible, and the transference of Sabbath is proof of that fact (Catholic Record, Sept 1, 1923).

Despite the differing opinions on Francis’ position on climate change, one thing is for sure: almost all are coming together on Rome’s proposition for Sunday sacredness, ostensibly to save the environment, strengthen the family, and take care of creation. Sunday sacredness will bridge the divides across political, socio-economic, and religious lines on climate change.

Francis insists: “On Sunday, our participation in the Eucharist has special importance. Sunday, like the Jewish Sabbath, is meant to be a day which heals our relationships with God, with ourselves, with others, and with the world. Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, the “first day” of the new creation, whose first fruits are the Lord’s risen humanity, the pledge of the final transfiguration of all created reality. It also proclaims “man’s eternal rest in God” (Laudato SI’, sec. 237).

An Apocalyptic Conflict is on the Horizon

First, there is no such thing as a Jewish Sabbath. It is God’s Sabbath bequeathed to all humanity. Jesus declared, “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath” ( Mark 2:27-28). The papacy’s usurpation of the word of God will not lead to peace and harmony, as is being promised, but rather to despotism, oppression, and tyranny, such as has never before been seen in human history (Daniel 12:1).

Herein lies the potential for the greatest conflict of all. Relative to creation, the Bible teaches that the God of creation has already given humanity a day of rest and worship. It is the 7^th day, not the 1^st. It reads, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.  Then He reminds us: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:8–11).

Nineteenth-century religious commentator Ellen G. White, whom the Smithsonian Institution recognized as one of the ten most popular religious writers, informs us, “The Sunday movement is now making its way in darkness. The leaders are concealing the true issue, and many who unite in the movement do not themselves see whither the undercurrent is tending … They are working in blindness. They do not see that if a Protestant government sacrifices the principles that have made them a free, independent nation, and through legislation brings into the Constitution principles that will propagate papal falsehood and papal delusion, they are plunging into the Roman horrors of the Dark Ages.” (E.G. White, The Review and Herald Extra, December 11, 1888).

Contrary to the Papal calls for legislated Sunday sacredness, employing the instrument of climate change; the Creator, in the image of an angel with a loud voice, lovingly beckons all humanity: “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” (Revelation 14:7).

Creator God is appealing to us to honor Him as Creator by keeping holy His Seventh-day Sabbath. The Pope and Church of Rome are directing all to honor Sunday, ostensibly to save the planet. The question is, ‘Where are the protestants?’ Protestantism means protesting against the un-biblical teachings of the Church of Rome. It is what gave rise to the mighty Protestant Reformation of the 15th and 16th centuries and birthed the greatest experiment in human civilization, the United States of America.

Most of the Christian denominations that came out of the Papal Church in protest of its unbiblical teachings and man-made traditions have retained many traits and characteristics of the mother church. Sunday sacredness is the most prominent. We read in the book The Great Controversy: “It is the spirit of the papacy, the spirit of conformity to worldly customs, the veneration for human traditions above the commandments of God, that is permeating the Protestant churches, and leading them on to do the same work of Sunday exaltation which the papacy has done before them” (The Great Controversy, 573).

Ultimately, all will have to take a stand, not on climate change but either on the Papal tradition of Sunday sacredness or the Seventh-day Sabbath of Creator God. It’s a choice that will demonstrate not only to your fellow man but also to principalities and those in high places who have authority over your life. How will you choose?

A great drama is being played out before our very eyes in these final hours of earth’s history. It revolves around God’s word versus the traditions of the papacy. The great Protestant Reformer, Martin Luther, along with others such as Calvin, Zwingli, Knox, Edwards, Henry, Clark, Wesley, and Spurgeon, just to name a few, identified the Roman Catholic Church as the first beast of Revelation 13 and the papacy as the anti-Christ of Bible prophecy.

As a result of their courage, tens of thousands of Roman Catholics of all classes, infected with the holy boldness of those Reformers, returned to the Scriptures and discovered the truth about Jesus Christ, the only Savior of mankind. The world has not been the same since. Unfortunately, most Protestants and Evangelicals today have developed a nauseating case of historical amnesia, all but forgetting the work, commitment, and sacrifice of the Reformers. They have, knowingly or unknowingly, set aside that which distinguished them from Catholicism, instead joining with her to achieve a fruitless exercise to save the planet.

E.G. White again alerts us: “In the movements now in progress in the United States to secure for the institutions and usages of the church the support of the state, Protestants are following in the steps of papists. Nay, more, they are opening the door for the papacy to regain in Protestant America the supremacy which she has lost in the Old World. And that which gives greater significance to this movement is the fact that the principal object contemplated is the enforcement of Sunday observance—a custom which originated with Rome, and which she claims as the sign of her authority” (Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, 573).

She continued: “The Protestant churches are in great darkness, or they would discern the signs of the times. The Roman Church … is employing every device to extend her influence and increase her power in preparation of a fierce and determined conflict to regain control of the world, to re-establish persecution, and undo all that Protestantism has done” (Great Controversy, p. 565).

Christians everywhere, like the Reformers of old, need to rekindle the spirit of Protestantism and resist Rome’s call for universal Sunday sacredness, a tradition contrary to God’s word, which she claims is her mark of authority in religious matters. But Sunday is not God’s Sabbath.

One political commentator, not particularly peering through the Biblical prophetic lens, rightly observed about America: “A nation ignorant of the past, numb of the present, and visionless around our future” (Steve Schmidt, The Warning).

About: Follow Pastor Aubrey Duncan at his Unfolding Prophecy Page